330ml bottle purchased from Woolworths Liquor, West Ryde and poured into a Murrays tulip style glass.

Pours with a clear appearance and arguable about 2 units of colour as it is a very, very pale golden shade. Has a white head of compact-bubbled foam that laces a touch on the way down.

Smells a little bit like rice to start with. In fact it reminds me of the staple university student meal of white rice and tomato sauce. Having shared houses for 3 years i got used to this. The lemon citrus aroma comes through a little later along with some sweet malt and a bit of grass.

Taste is grassy with some solid malt sweetness after that. A little bit of a one-trick pony in this regard.

Overall it is unique, perhaps nowhere near as much as the bottle design. However, unique doesn't necessarily equal good or true to style. Doubt i could go to a pub and drink and enjoy this all night which is, i guess, a pretty good yardstick for this style of beer.

I was expecting more from this beer due to its effusive marketing and hype. There really isn't much to distinguish this beer from similar 'premium' lagers although look past the hype and you'll find a decent session beer that would come into its own in summer.

I could pick sherbet on the nose which was interesting, couldn't quite figure it out. The hops are fairly balanced and lack complexity but still better than typical macro fare.

If Monteith's are going to go to the trouble of making such a big deal then they should brew something that distinguishes itself from your typical lager. I still think the benchmark to a complex lager is Knappstein Reserve Lager.

Didnt care much for the hyperbolic dross regarding the beers provenance, but did appreciate the final result.
Ticks a lot of boxes for balance , clean tasting with some moderate fruity/herbaceous hints the biggest non tick is the finish .
It has a slightly bruised fruit offness right at the end , which I guess is not uncharcteristic of the style , but this just doesnt quite gel

Never seen nor heard of this until yesterday and it pours a pale see through straw hue with decent carbonation that leaves behind a frothy two finger head and a rim of lacing,the smell is pretty weak with hints of barley and herbal grassy hops but thats it,the mouthfeel is very light bodied and well carbonated and in my mind only average with weak tastes of lemon water,fresh barley,grassy herbal hops and finish is pretty smooth and lagerish and overall i would not buy this again and it suprises me that this brew is worse than any of their normal lineup.

So, the idea is they've made a beer that reflects the terroir of NZ by specifically choosing good quality sources for the ingredients for this beer. (How do they choose the sources for the ingredients for their other beers?)

Using Southern Cross hops, which I haven't heard of (but that doesn't mean much) it is a fairly decent pils. Though not really representative of NZ in the way Emersons is for example. It looks great. A big collar of foam that doesn't dissipate and laces consistently. Aromas hint of lemon and citrus but mostly fresh grain, cereal aromas. Soft bitterness and medium carbonation make it very drinkable but not overly memorable.